I received this book from Net Galley, in exchange for an honest review.
The subject of the Associated Negro Press promised to be interesting. On the one hand an alternative view of world events during one of the most tumultuous eras of the 20th century and on the other the paradoxical story of a venture who own success lead to its demise.

Unfortunately this narrative felt more like a high school essay than a book, liberally seasoned with name dropping of the important and influential, and stuffed full of quotes which were often irrelevant or non-sequiturs. It also seemed to be written with the expectation that those reading it would have the same, if not greater, knowledge of the subject matter than the author.

“Soon thereafter, Harlem received a premonition of better times to come when a French army captain— a Negro with roots in Guadeloupe— visited this community accompanied by a Haitian American translator who had just arrived from the percolating battlefields of Indochina.”
There is no explanation of the identity of this French army captain, why he might be so important to the residents of Harlem and the premonition of better times is so vague it could mean anything.

“The cases of Loren Miller and Fay Jackson and their city of residence, Los Angeles, also illustrated neatly the problems faced by Barnett and the ANP.”
The author does not elucidate as to the nature of these ‘cases’ or the problems they illustrated. Leaving the statement dangling mid-air before a perplexed reader.

“Barnett, the Republican, was of a like mind with Miller, the presumed Communist. Miller also wrote for an ANP affiliate, the California Eagle in Los Angeles, and it was from there that he chose to congratulate Barnett on his Scottsboro coverage: “your zeal in covering the most important case of [this] generation should merit the applause of your member papers.” ……Reflecting the sensitivity of a case that involved inflammatory allegations of interracial rape, Jasper T. Duncan of the San Antonio Register adopted an opposing tack”.
Again there is no explanation or illustration of what is meant by an ‘opposing tack’. Did Duncan ignore the Scottsboro issue, try to minimize coverage of the trial or did he support an opposing point of view?

Part of what drove the ANP … to the left were rumblings from the base…. Ultimately, Barnett arranged for the leading black pilot, John Robinson, to travel to Addis Ababa to organize the fledgling air force there and file stories besides, decision prompted by sentiment emerging from the Negro masses.

By delving into my knowledge of history I guess the significance of organizing an air force in Addis Ababa was resistance against colonial forces but this is not explained and what exactly was the “sentiment emerging from the Negro masses.” Surely not feelings against colonialism which would already have been fully developed at this late stage?

There were occasions where the author seems to show some insight.
This example showing the ANP willing to be purposefully blind as much as everyone else:
“The ANP coverage of the Soviet Union was stunningly positive and in contrast to its U.S. counterparts, which focused on human-rights violations. …Hence, the ANP correspondent responded breathlessly in 1937 at the height of the purges in Moscow that Soviet speakers at a rally assailed disfranchisement laws in Dixie.”
And this showing the irony of the ANP’s support of legislation against foreign workers while railing against other countries for controlling African American immigration
“The ANP did not necessarily come to this issue with clean hands, for it could be accused easily of falling victim to nativist bias in objecting to Latin American migration to the United States, as it demanded an open door for African Americans to enter other nations. The agency “warmly congratulated “Senator Hiram Johnson of California when he sought “to place Mexico upon the quota list and thereby subject its prospective immigrants to the same rigid but reasonable rules as apply to the immigrants coming from continental Europe and other foreign countries “because “they have displaced from jobs both white and black natives.”
It was a pity that he seemed unable to write so clearly about the many positive aspects of the ANP.

The author’s repetitive monotone and insistence on picking vocabulary according to the quantity of syllables rather than appositeness of meaning made this a wearying read and left me with the feeling I was chewing my way through cardboard.
After an incredibly long 25% I took pity on myself and DNFed coming to the conclusion a Google search could probably provide me with more enjoyably packaged knowledge on this subject.

It took me months to get through it, because there were other books that were far more compelling for me to read.

I liked and appreciated the subject and content, but the author's unnecessary use of ten-dollar words when two-dollar words would do was pretentious and off putting. This led to a lot of eye rolling for me while reading. I understood most of the words but...it felt like the author was simply showing off.

Ultimately, the Associated Negro Press became the victim of its own success and a casualty of desegregation. Once Black writers had access to "mainstream" media outlets, ANP became less influential and important.

The book was very well sourced and I will investigate some of the books mentioned in the references section.

Recommended only for US media historians, Black history buffs, and newspaper geeks.

This is an essential history for anyone trying to piece together the Black American story. An intriguing insight into the first Black entrepreneurs who gave such an important platform to future generations, highly recommended.

This book was an illuminating exploration of the meaningful work of the Associated Negro Press in addressing racism in the United States and abroad by founder Claude Barnett.

The Rise and Fall of the Associated Negro Press is a fascinating book that covers a completely untold story of the African American influence on the media during the Jim Crow period in the US. It also follows the history of the founder, Claude Barnett, who contrary to the culture and laws of his day becomes a diplomatic figure who influences the news, relations with other countries and with the perception of world events.

This is a great book if you are into history, African American studies. I had a hard time because I am not a history buff. However I know several people who would enjoy this book. I'll definitely recommend to my history buffs.